


Bad Habits

by strawberrylace



Category: Arctic Monkeys, British Singers RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Meet-Cute, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 22:22:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17989577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberrylace/pseuds/strawberrylace
Summary: Miles Kane just wants to save his favorite barista before he smokes himself to death. After all, he's kind of a health expert.“You’re the health-conscious med student and I’m the chain-smoking art student who’s also your barista and you leave me notes on smoking and lung health on your napkins and also a 20-page essay on lung cancer tucked under your saucer” AU.





	Bad Habits

"All of this will soon pay off." 

Miles seemed to have been looking at the same pages for the past half hour. His paper was already finished but he was damned if was going to make the same mistake as he did last semester of not double and triple checking his work before printing off 20 pages of research. He cringed thinking back on his 15 page paper he wrote on hereditary and cardiovascular disease in women. It was the best paper that Miles had written, however, it was docked 3 points, because on the very last page he spelled cardiovascular wrong by one letter. Curse Dr. Hamilton and his very keen eyesight! 

"I swear to god, if I spell respiratory wrong anywhere, I might as well fling myself into the street," Miles muttered to himself, looking out at the window at the busy traffic outside the cafe he was sitting in. 

When Miles wanted a change of pace from studying in his apartment or in the library, he went to Garbo's Cafe to get some much needed peace and quiet. It was never super busy when Miles came in and he quite liked their London Fog. As health conscious as he was, this was one of the few indulgences that Miles treated himself to on a semi-daily basis. Aside from his favorite drink and the atmosphere, there was one other reason why he liked coming to Garbo's. Well, it was debatable if he liked this other reason, depending on the time of day. 

Alex Turner was a barista part time when he wasn't shuttling his portfolio to and from class. The stress of being an art student was enough to drive the sanest person mad. Not to say that he didn't enjoy it, but when you're taking three different classes that focus on conflicting styles of art, topped with a history class that was taught by an all-around bore, and working at a cafe where the customers can be a pain in the arse, you had to let off some steam in some form. Smoking was a way for Alex to take a breather, literally. At times, he'd find himself running out of another excruciating class just so he can light up his first cig of the day. This more or less repeated at least 5 times a day. Yes, he knew it was unhealthy, but at least he was in an environment where it was socially acceptable, especially among his artist friends. He could care less about whether or not the customers saw him take a quick smoke break. What did they care? But there was one customer that did care and he was looking right at him. 

Miles saw his barista was out having a smoke break. Normally he'd be angry at people who smoked, as not only was it a nasty habit, but it was one of his biggest turn offs for guys. However, watching Alex puff away made Miles very sad. He was always very nice to Miles, making sure that he had a nice quiet space and made the London Fog just the right way. In turn, he'd tip generously. Miles had developed quite a crush on him and was soon coming into the cafe more frequently. It wasn't until very recently that Miles noticed Alex smoking as he was leaving the cafe. Upon this discovery, Miles was crushed. To think, he was so perfect with his dreamy eyes,tousled dark hair, infectious laugh, and adorable smile. When he found out that Alex smoked, Miles was crushed.

But alas, Miles was determined to make a change in Alex's life. He had to! After all, he was able to get his parents to commit to a nearly vegan lifestyle, how hard could it be to get someone to stop smoking? He was already trying to reach to him, leaving little notes on his napkin for Alex to find that shared some small tidbits regarding the side effects of smoking as well as lung health. He didn't know if Alex paid much attention to them but he knew that Alex could see them, as Miles always tucked a small napkin underneath his drink before he left. Still, Alex continued to smoke away. Miles had to think of something else, as the napkins weren't making much of a statement. As Miles scanned through his paper one last time for anymore grammatical and spelling errors, he knew exactly how he was going to get his point across.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few days later, Miles came into Garbo's, thumbing through a large stack of papers. He had just gotten his research paper back on the health risks connected with smoking and vaping on the respiratory system and was happy to find that he got the highest grade in his class. Served him right to triple check his paper for any errors! He nearly ran into the lad in front of him when Miles walked in line. The cafe was busier than normal. He looked up and saw that Alex was already hard at work making the drinks. Normally Alex would wave or say hello when Miles walked in, no matter how busy he was. He tried not to think about it as he ordered his London Fog. 

Alex had been very sleep deprived the past two days. He'd been working on a very big photography project as well as an art history paper that had been more than draining for him to work on. He was running on coffee and cigarettes, a true artist's diet. It had been a few days since he'd seen his favorite customer in the cafe and when he came in, he appeared to be carrying in more papers than normal. Based on the little napkins that he'd been leaving Alex could guess that Miles had to be a med student or a dietician, constantly working on research papers. He never really thought to ask, as their conversations were limited to what they said to each other at the counter. He noticed Miles was struggling to organize his papers while taking his money, but knew exactly what Miles' order was, getting right to work on his London Fog. As he made the drink, Miles dropped all the papers that he was holding, cursing himself for being such a klutz. As the patron in front of him helped gather his papers, Alex set the London Fog out and left the counter for a quick smoke break. 

As soon as Miles gathered everything he dropped, he saw that his London Fog was waiting for him, but no Alex. He held his tea cup and saucer in one hand while holding his papers in another as he took it to his usual spot. As he sat down, he could see his barista taking a long drag in plain sight right outside the cafe. Today was the day that Alex needed to know. Miles could barely enjoy his drink like normal, he was that angry. This beautiful, stupid barista was really about to smoke away his life? All to be on trend? As soon as Alex came back from his smoke break, Miles marched right over to the counter. Alex was surprised to see Miles get up so quickly. It was the first time that they looked at each other today. Miles tucked his research paper underneath the saucer and pushed it towards Alex. 

"Your reading assignment," said Miles. 

Alex just stared at the thick paper that was underneath the empty drink as Miles walked out of the cafe. He looked underneath and read the sticky note that was placed on top, written in big, bold, red letters: "LUNG CANCER IS NOT A TREND!" 

"Fuck," Alex said quietly, holding the research paper up, reading the title cover underneath the sticky note. He glanced back at the other baristas before he bolted out of the cafe, hoping that he'd be able to catch Miles. He looked out to his left to see that Miles was still walking down the street. Alex ran down and called after him. 

"Hey! Hey Miles!" Alex called out, holding the research paper up. 

Miles stopped and allowed Alex to catch up to him. He was still wearing his barista's apron underneath a yellow Stone Roses shirt and skinny light washed jeans. His hair looked messier than usual and he appeared to be extremely exhausted, like he hadn't slept in days. Miles wasn't as mad as he was before. He just wanted the poor guy to get some sleep, and maybe consider cutting back on the nicotine. 

"Did you write all this?" Alex asked, handing the research paper back to Miles. 

"Of course," Miles said with pride. "Apparently since you don't seem to take any interest in the notes that I leave you regarding smoking, I figured sitting you down and having you read all the facts would help you come to your senses!" 

"What notes?" 

Miles was gobsmacked. "What notes? My notes about the dangers of smoking! I see you taking a break whenever I come in here. You smoke at least two whenever I'm in the cafe. To be honest, normally it's a real big turn off to see someone smoke, but I just want to help you! Take from an aspiring medical expert who only wants to make people healthy and see them live long and prosperous lives!" 

Alex was confused. "All this is because you don't like that I smoke? You could've just told me that it bothers you that I smoke. My parents aren't even this persistent with my bad habits." 

"But I hardly know you so I guess that's why I've been leaving all those notes on my napkins and giving you that paper, which I got the highest grade on! I don't know, I'm normally the most health conscious among my friends when it comes to these things and I'm so good at making convincing arguments." 

Alex chuckled. "Perhaps you should go into law instead of medicine." 

Miles sheepishly smiled. "Maybe." 

Alex bit his lip and looked down on the ground. "Look, I don't smoke to look cool or anything like that. Art school, believe it or not, can be very stressful at times and it takes the edge off a lot of things. But I know I could doing something more productive to cope with my stress and I appreciate that you're concerned. I'll tell you what: I'll take this home with me and after I've read you paper, you and I can go discuss it over dinner?" 

Miles eyes were wide with hope. "That would be lovely!" 

Alex simply smiled as he turned away. As he and Miles were going their separate ways, Alex had one last thing to say. 

"You know your London Fogs are not so healthy, Mr Health Guru?" Alex called out. "You're really contradicting yourself with your health teachings!" 

Miles turned around to see Alex's cheeky smile and shook his head. "I'm well aware of my cheats! I never said I was perfectly health conscious!"


End file.
